[closed] you suck so passionately

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Beleth, Cade (Alistair later)((AND NERVA))
WHAT: THROW DOWN
WHEN: the last day or so in Emprise de Lion
WHERE: Sahrnia Camp
NOTES: There will be a thread for reactions if you'd like your character to be present/see it from the side, but please don't intervene!



Cade has been a bit off since the red lyrium incident. The initial bout of overt aggression passed a while ago, but he has remained sensitive to how much still hangs around the camps; this compounded with how little sleep he's getting, how cold it is here, and the general desolation of being in a place where so many of his former brethren have been fouled by evil, has put him in a black mood colored by the lingering paranoia and heightened aggression he's felt ever since coming in contact with the accursed stuff.

He is on-duty as a camp guard, having been held back from returning to the field as a result of what happened the last time. He has worn a ditch in the snow from his ceaseless pacing, and his bearing is twitchy, over-reactive, and suspicious.

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[onlyhymns]

[if you feel so inclined]

Fight fight fight

[arlathvhen]

Antiva had been awful, perhaps because she hadn't gotten to actually enjoy it. Just, you know, infiltrated a Crow stronghold and killed everyone and nearly died in the process. But one thing she had gotten to enjoy was the warmth. Going from there to Emprise du Lion is the worst kind of change. She'd even given into wearing boots.

But the trip to Antiva had her return with more than just trouble adjusting to the cold. Her nerves were on edge, anxiety eating away at her. She was restless and tired all at the same time, and every time she closed her eyes, Crow corpses mobbed her, clawing at her skin and pulling her down, while the flesh golem laughed with all its mouths, taunting her.

She is, all in all, in a terrible mood, and when her eyes turn to Cade, she remembers how amusing it'd been to pick at him last time. He's looking even worse than last time. So she puts on her sweet, innocent elven maiden face, and wanders over to him, an expression of concern plastered on.

"Ser--? Ser, it's been some time, but...have you seen the healer, yet? Because, um. You're--you're still not, um. Well, you're still looking a little feverish."

[onlyhymns]

That voice is in his ear yet again, and Cade turns to look at Beleth, his expression strained and tired and aggravated. "I'm fine," he insists, and turns back the way he had been. "Go away," he grumbles in addition, anxiously pushing one hand through his hair.

[arlathvhen]

She should listen to him. He's clearly out of sorts himself, and while it's amusing to nettle, the wisest course of action would be to stop this now. Just walk away. But she doesn't. "You don't look fine," She replies, instead, stepping closer. In his personal space. Despite the smile on her lips, her eyes are intent, staring up at him. Watching his reactions.

"You look like you're about to keel over. Or, I don't know. Fall asleep on watch." She says, her voice innocent. Not that anything like that would ever happen.

[onlyhymns]

Cade is quiet, and he's not the most socially apt, but he's not an idiot. He has patiently endured the mockery of those around him since he was a child, whether overt or subtle, and he knows when someone is having a go at him. Normally he is of a disposition to let it slide; the less he reacts, the less notice anyone will take of him, and the less exposed he'll be to any further torment. But right now, he's tired, half-witless from fatigue and nerves, and a small elf that he doesn't recall ever meeting before Emprise is stepping into his personal space.

"Leave me alone," he mutters darkly, lowering his head. There's an ominous glint in his eye as he stares down at her, his shoulders twitching and his jaw tensing, visible evidence of his fuse rapidly burning out.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth is, however, socially apt. Whether or not she's an idiot is questionable, because if she were truly smart, she would have left a bit ago, and if she had any brains at all, she would at least leave when she saw that look in his eye. But she just felt spurred on. Empowered, maybe. She can poke and prod and make him dance by pressing the right buttons.

And she wanted to. She wanted to push him.

So she gets even closer, an unsettling look in her eyes as she smiles at him, titling her head. "Or what." And as if perhaps she were actually trying to push a physical button on Cade, she reaches out, giving him a short shove, right on the chest. "What're you going to do to me? Drop one of those red monsters on me?"

[onlyhymns]

The small shove is all it takes. Quick as a snake, the back of Cade's gauntleted hand snaps across Beleth's face. Normally, under less dire emotional circumstances, he would leave it at that, but his long-smoldering fury is bubbling out faster than he can control it. As he steps toward the elf, who he presumably sent sprawling, his hand goes to the hilt of his sword. The other reaches to knot in Beleth's hair and slam her full-forced into the snow.

Afterwards

[arlathvhen]

Shortly after

When Alistair offered to let her stay in his tent, she accepted pretty much immediately. He's safe, she trusts him, and she's slept next to him before. Adelaide she doesn't know as well, but the mage has been nothing but reasonable and polite every time Beleth has seen her. So that's how she wound up in their tent with all her stuff (having left Isabela a polite note saying that she'd moved for personal reasons), flopped out on her bedroll and trying to sort out the various emotions rampaging through her.

She kind of wants to cry again, just because everything is so awful, and maybe she'll feel better afterwards. But she's done so much crying today, and none of it has helped. So, she tries staring blankly up at the roof of the tent instead, trying to ignore that she looks like she threw herself in front of a stampede of halla, that everything sucks, and that it's all very much her fault.

In the days after

Beleth has improved, mostly. She looks better than she did--the swelling is gone, thanks to healers, the bruises and small cuts have been taken care of as well. There's a small scar across the bridge of her nose, which is mostly fixed, but still seems to lean a little to the left, if you get a good look. She's going out and about, too, though she has a tendency to follow after Alistair like a lost duckling. But she doesn't wander away from camp alone--if she is alone, the time is spent next to the largest campfire, in the middle of camp.

Her disposition has changed a little bit too, though it might be hard to tell for people who didn't know her. Beleth has always been quiet, and a little bit nervous, but now she stays mostly silent, and jumps at any sudden movements. But for the most part, she acts as close to normal as she can, greeting people pleasantly, and chatting with them when she can. Any who asks about what had happened to her will be told a very pretty story.

In the days after...

[equanimiti]

Days passed until anyone told Alayre. It was mere coincidence that he even found out. Had he not heard the conversation in passing from two others, Alayre would've never known. This is why he makes haste to Beleth now.

Far too late to give his condolences and definitely too late to claim anger, Alayre walked towards the campfire once he spotted a familiar tuft of red hair. "Beleth?" His voice was calm but breathless. He literally been searching throughout the camp for her. The Templar took a moment to study the elf, his gray eyes searching for proof to the rumors. Besides the scar upon her nose, the healers certainly patched her up well but somethings off here. As of what that something is, Alayre doesn't know.

"I heard you...found some trouble." He muttered as he approached a little closer. "You seem well enough. I assume the healers got to you." Dressed causally in black rather than his usual armor, Alayre certainly doesn't look like a Templar today.

[arlathvhen]

She jumps, when someone says her name, looking up for the source. For a brief moment, she looks like a fennec about to bolt for its hole. But then, did she look so dissimilar when she first met Alayre? Either way, the look passes when recognition settles in. There's still a tension, wound up like a top ready to spin, but it's under control. Mostly.

She glances off to the side as Alayre continues, and nods an affirmation. She's not sure what he heard--considering his relationship to Cade, she was guessing he knew enough. She figured that the Templars would send--someone, or something to her, at some point. Some kind of apology. 'Sorry one of us tried to kill you.'

She supposed that was what this was, even if he didn't dress like it.

"I was taken to the healers shortly afterward." She confirmed, voice soft. "Everything was taken care of."

[equanimiti]

Beleth had always been a tad jumpy at times. This is why Alayre didn't immediately ask the question that's plaguing his mind. If he wants any answers from her, he's going to have to play it safe. Alayre doesn't dare jump to the subject too quickly in fear of scaring her.

"Was it?" There's worry in his tone but there's also doubt. "Was everything truly taken care of?" He questioned as he took a seat by the fire. The warm glow of the campfire was comforting enough. It kept the bitter cold at bay but did nothing else to ease the tension between them.

A moment passed before Alayre spoke again. He chosen his words carefully. "...I want to know what happened." He whispers to her knowing that those elven ears could hear him over the fire. "There's rumors floating about but I desire to know the truth." Alayre glanced at her with something akin to regret in his gaze.

"Who did this to you, Beleth?"

[arlathvhen]

She tilted her head when he asked his question, studying his face carefully. So he hadn't been involved in the official channels-- which meant that there was no way of guessing which vein of the truth he had heard. She had no desire to lie to Alayre, but she was already tired of the whole ordeal.

She turned to the fire, taking a stick by her foot and prodding at the logs. As she turned the logs over, she gave a quiet sigh. Then she tosses the stick back down, and turns to Alayre, expression weary.

"I did. What happened was an effect of something I caused. I didn't hold the gauntlet, but I was the one who incited it." Her fingers brush over her face, feeling for wounds already gone. "But I'm healed. I'm not so sure about him."

[equanimiti]

Him? Alayre sucks in his breath. If the rumors are indeed true; then he knows of the Templar that struck her. As much as he doesn't want to jump to conclusions, Alayre's jaw tenses with rage.

"It was him." He manages to say from in between clenched teeth. "It was Cade." The anger he thought he placed aside was back at full rage. Alayre balls his gloved fists tightly and averts his gaze from Beleth. He doesn't want her to see him like this, so he tries to swallow his anger. Beleth had seen enough of blind rage as of late, especially from Templars like him.

"He will be punished." He says after a moment of calm. "If not by me, then by another." That's a promise and not some idle threat. "Harimann is a troubled man, I know, but this is inexcusable even if you coaxed it." Alayre recognized the role Beleth played in this but he doesn't want to dwell on that just yet. The reason for that is because he doesn't know how to approach that matter without shouting.

"He's not still within the encampment, is he?"

Days after

[gatheringstorm]

Between dragonslaying and other less glamorous tasks, Korrin isn't the first to hear news of what happened. But at some point, she overhears a coupe of scouts discussing Beleth's injuries so she leaves some healing supplies at her tent. When more news trickles down, about Cade's rampage and Beleth switching tents, the Vashoth mage's concern deepens. So she'll go seek her out there, only refraining from barging in should anyone be in the middle of changing. (See, Cade? Manners.)

"Beleth?"

[arlathvhen]

At the sound of her name, Beleth starts, like Korrin had shouted it. She'd been reclining, but as the qunari woman entered, she shot up to a sitting position, body tense. But when she sees who it is, she relaxes. She settles in her position, smiling at Korrin.

"Hey! I got your healing supplies. Thank you for those. Sorry I didn't come thank you sooner. I've been, ah. Busy."

[gatheringstorm]

That tension doesn't go unnoticed, and Korrin takes in other details with a worried frown. She shakes her head, not having come here for thanks. "Don't worry about it. So have I, but I can tell you all about that later. I overheard that my twitchy tentmate went on a rampage and hurt someone. It was you, wasn't it? Because now I'm regretting not doing more to that idiot when I had the chance."

[arlathvhen]

When Cade is mentioned, Beleth frowns. Oddly enough, the frown only grows when Korrin goes on to mention taking action against him. It's a conflicting feeling, whenever anyone gets mad at Cade on her behalf. He deserves it. She knows he does. She just has to stop and think about that terror she felt when he grabbed her hair and slammed her into the ground. But next to that image is the bewildered confusion, the fear and guilt on his face afterwards.

He deserves it. But she still feels shitty.

Instead of trying to deal with the emotions, she just covers her face with her hands, sighing quietly. She rubs her face a little, trying to think of what to say. The polite thing would be to just agree. He was awful, crazy, a rabid Templar who shouldn't have been allowed here. And it wouldn't be a lie. After a few moments, she finally said, "I don't think anybody saw it coming. Even him. Especially me. But he's been sent back to Skyhold--Which I'm sure you figured out. So now he's their headache."

Days After

[el_tybs]

Emprise du Lion certainly has not been a vacation, what with hunting down wolves and bears, fighting off red templars and spiders - BIG spiders mind you - and a demon - 'spirit', choice whatever. After all this he just wants to go home. So of course when he catches word that Beleth had been attacked and injured, Sam is not pleased.

It takes some time before he finds out what tent she is at, but when he does he waits outside patiently. "Beleth?"

[arlathvhen]

At first there isn't any response. But after a little bit, Beleth's head pokes out of the tent, and she peeks around for the source of the voice. When the elf spots Sam, she looks a little surprised, but the expression quickly changes to a thin smile. She's got a sneaking expression what this is about, because she's pretty sure that Sam wouldn't have tracked down her new tent and come over to find her just so they could chew the fat. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe there's something else going on.

She can hope.

Beleth moves out from inside of the tent and stands up, turning to face him. "Hello, Sam. How're you doing? I heard that you were a part of dealing with that Keep business."

[el_tybs]

Sam smiles back lightly in return, head tilting some as he takes in Beleth's face, trying to see if there was still anything wrong, but it seemed that the other healers had already taken care of it. Before he can open his mouth to say anything Beleth is already asking him how he is and directing the conversation away from his original purpose. That has his giving a small huff and shaking his head a bit.

"I'm doing alright. Considering. You heard right. I went with the group and we split up once we got inside. It was pretty bad."

[arlathvhen]

Beleth is master at wrangling conversations away from herself, especially when the topic isn't something she wants to discuss. So it's easy for her to ignore Sam's huff of protest and continue pressing about the fort. It was certainly easier to talk about.

"I heard. What kind of enemies were there? I heard about some red Templars, but someone mentioned someone...worse? I didn't really get a good picture, though."

shortly after

[dalishious]

Merrick had been busy elsewhere while it happened, but as soon as he heard about Beleth's injuries he sought her out immediately. He ignores anyone who might protest his sudden entry into the tent, moving to her side and gently grasping her shoulder.

"Bell?" he says softly. "It's me."

[arlathvhen]

He's rewarded with his rushing by Beleth all but jumping out of her skin when he rushes in. She'd been reclining, but pulls herself up quickly, eyes wide. She looks like she might be ready to bolt, but then recognition hits. It's Merrick--just Merrick. And she relaxes, a little.

"You could have knocked." But she can't quite sound as reproachful as she'd intended with him. Instead, the elf just readjusts her sitting position to be a little more comfortable, shooting him a small, thin smile. She wasn't surprised that Merrick had showed up, maybe surprised that word had gotten out so fast. But it's not like she'd been very quiet.

"Are you alright? I heard you had been fighting a dragon."

[dalishious]

As soon as Merrick sees her face he freezes. Cold fury spreads through his body, hardening around his veins.

His grip tightens on her arm, and he doesn't hear her words.

"Who hurt you."

[arlathvhen]

She winces, just a little. Beleth can divert conversation without other people even realizing she's doing it, but even when she's feeling great, Merrick is a hard person to distract. He has so much focus and intensity--Traits that Beleth usually finds admirable. Right now, she'd rather discuss dragons.

The last thing she wants is for Merrick to start some kind of blood feud between the Dalish and the Templars.

"It's not a big deal, Merrick. It's just--I fell off some of that stupid scaffolding. The stuff that doesn't have any railings." But the excuse sounds lame even to her. She can't make herself look him in the eye, either, glancing down and to the side instead. "It was just...a stupid accident."